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A typical paddleball paddle.

One Wall Paddleball is an Americanball game that consists in
hitting a small rubber ball against a single wall by using
paddles. It can be played in
singles (1 versus 1) or in doubles (2 versus 2). The general rule
of the game is that the ball must hit the wall without touching the
court floor more than once in order to be a valid rally. The balls
are usually of the colors black,
blue, green and originally, the paddles were made of wood, although new materials have
replaced them throughout the years (such as graphite and titanium paddles).

Contents

History

The history of the game is somehow undocumented, but it
obviously origins from American handball which consists of
hitting the ball with the bare hands or a gloved palm. However, due
to the cold weather in northern American states, the players carved
wooden paddles to hit with to relieve the pain from the cold.

Lore

The beginning of ONE WALL PADDLEBALL started in up state New
York by a handball player name Mr. Beale. The winter of 1940 was
brutally cold and Mr. Beale's hands became too brittle &
painful too continue playing handball. Mr. Beale substituted a
Wooden Paddle with no holes and a taped handle to start the game of
ONE WALL PADDLEBALL.

The game was played on one wall handball courts in New York City
alongside handball players. The Sport of Paddleball gained
popularity in 1950 - 1954. The top players were, Harold Salomon,
John Bruchi, Chris Leacakes, and Howie Hammer. They dominated the
game in singles and in doubles. They were the outstanding
champions. The black seamco ball was in use and was the official
ball of Paddleball. Howie Hammer and John Bruchi were the top duo
team. As 1960 approached, Bobby Schwarz and Andy Krosnik emerged,
so did Steve Rothfield and Barry Sheiber, Marcel (Hoppy) Hopkins,
Donnie Ciafone, Arroyo (Shotgun) Louie. The game of Paddleball
gained more popularity and many new faces were attracted to
Paddleball. Eddie Acevedo, Ray David, Mike Melendez, Craig Ruiz,
Anthony Fiorino, Robert Chiell, Ralph Capograso, Bobby Fiorentino
and don't forget lefty "Chico" Escuela. These were the players that
became champions in the Late 60's and 70's. In The late 70's and
mid 80's, Wellington Cabrera, Freddy Diaz, Eddie (flaco) and Mike
Petry were at the top of their games and they were the players to
beat. Also during this time the 17 ounce paddle was substituted by
15 and 15.5 ounce paddles which made the swing quicker. Also the
new Spalding green ball emerged which has a true bounce and for
some strange reason no other company can match it.(Spaulding also
made Pink handballs, currently Reactor makes the green ball) The
green ball is the official ball of paddleball. In the late 80's,
New faces emerged, (the kid) Robert Sostre, Sammy Cesareo, Jesus
Barretto and the twins, John and Arty Randon. But The kid out
shined them all. The kid became the #1 player in no time. He has
been on that horse ever since, and no one has been able to take him
off to the present time. The kid is known as Robert (The Ice man)
Sostre. His paddle design is the orange special edition above.

Lore Written by Maury the K - President: One Wall Paddleball
Assoc.

The Ball The newest ball is the Blue 'ACE' currently in
tournament use in NYC. The green has been relegated to existing
stock which players are slowly exhausting.

Staten Island Paddleball Legends

From the late-1970s to the mid-1980s, one giant figure stood
above all others at the top of the Staten Island paddleball world:
the legendary Tony Zoid, aka Tony Z., aka "Killer," who roamed the
schoolyards of the South Shore taking on - and destroying - all
comers, with a dazzling array of shots and an inhuman desire to not
only win, but to punish his opponents.

Challengers for the 70s-80s Staten Island paddleball crown included
Greg "Fats" Delacan, Mike "Sweats" Damuda, and Bob "Stick"
Macktruckin. Though each was legendary in his own right, Tony Z.
remains the one true icon of his era - a larger than life hero of
the paddleball world.

Other
Governing Bodies

There have been a many attempts to package Paddleball as a
sport. However, attempts to organize it have had mixed results. The
U. S. Paddleball Association was founded in 1960 by John Bruschi
& Christopher Lecakes but didn't last long. In the late 1960s,
the American Paddleball Association (APA) was organized, only to be
challenged by the Paddleball Players Association in 1974. In the
Eighties, the P.P.P.A., founded by Ray Gaston, became the dominate
governing body and small community based organizations like the One
Wall Paddleball Association founded by Murry "DA K" Kushner
continued efforts to push the sport forward. In the early 1990s,
The National Paddleball Association, founded by Michael G Magnaldi,
George Medici and Linda Sales, picked up the torch from the prior
organizations. The NPA officially ceased operations in early 2006.
All prior organizations eventually became inactive. The APA was
reorganized in the late 1990s by paddleball legend Howard Hammer
and shortly there after became inactive again.

There are a number of factors that prevent paddleball becoming
more of a national sport, not-withstanding the lack of walls
outside of the NY region. Part of the problem stems from the
experience in NYC with annual tournaments, which when sponsored by
companies such as Budweiser (80's) fell victim to forces on
tournament courts that turned away further corporate involvement.
Another is the speed of the game, which barring technological
advancement, prevent televising tournaments. The ball moves too
fast and the court is too small for following the action during the
live game. Without the revenue stream from television the game is
relegated to member fees to enter tournaments which are sponsored
locally.